Living the dream
by MissEclipse
Summary: This is the final part in the trilogy "The End or a New Beginning?". The A-Team have finally got their pardons. Just a few loose ends to tie up with a couple of twists for Murdock and Kami. But its Hannibal that takes centre stage in the end.
1. Chapter 1

**_[Disclaimer: The A-Team is still the red-hot property of Stephen J Cannell (RIP)]]_**

[**Timeline: June 1988**]

**Chapter 1: The Boys are back in Town!**

Five months had passed since Colonel John Smith, Lieutenant Templeton Peck and Sargent BA Baracus had cleared their names and received their Presidential Pardons – along with a very generous compensation package.

Captain H M Murdock had also been cleared of all charges for aiding and abetting the notorious A-Team both whilst they were on the run as fugitives and in helping them escape during their 1986 trial.

The team had shared their compensation money with the pilot, because after all, he had unofficially been the fourth member of the team, or as Hannibal so eloquently put it, their secret weapon!

They had all gone their respective ways to follow their dreams as free men. Murdock, of course, continued to live with Kami in Angelino Heights. He had made a steady recovery from the horrific, physical and mental injuries that had been inflicted upon him during his last mission under General Stockwell's reign. He had become very competent in the restaurant business and had continued his role in helping out Kami's friend, Teresa Lombardi, in her Italian restaurant. He could turn his hand to almost anything – cooking, washing-up, waitering – all of which were carried out with his usual gusto and love for life.

Face was engaged to Rina Turin and they lived with her son Eric in a neighbouring suburb. Always being the one with a flair for a good business opportunity, he had bought his own premises and ran a very successful property development agency. He had become very skilful in finding the best locations for new developments and assisted in the renovation of leased properties - making a substantial profit on any particular project! His greatest achievement, however, came in the form of being a caring and loving partner to Rina and a devoted step-dad to Eric.

BA lived a couple of blocks away from Face. With the Lieutenant's help he had found himself a nice little apartment. He became involved in the local Youth & Kids Academy, working as a military trainer. The Academy was designed to increase confidence, leadership skills, teamwork, discipline and self-defence amongst young teenagers. Having managed to curb his fear of flying somewhat, he made regular trips to visit his mama in Chicago. Rumour also had it that he had found himself a young lady friend!

Hannibal had relocated to Bad Rock, California, so he could be with Maggie Sullivan. Most surprisingly, he had stayed on General Stockwell's payroll. Being of an outstanding military background and through the General's many connections, he became a strategy adviser to private military corporations and defence contractors. Not one to be sitting on his laurels, in his spare time he also gave lectures at Military Academies and trainings schools across America.

And now today, after being apart for five months, the team were taking time out from their busy schedules to reunite with Murdock and Kami. Kami was on summer vacation from school, where she taught as a teacher, so it was the perfect time for everyone to catch up.

Hannibal was already staying with BA, as Maggie was attending a medical convention. Their plan was to pick up Face and head over to Angelino Heights for a few weeks. Rina and Eric were holidaying with her parents, leaving Face with some free time on his hands before they returned. The girls would then come and join them later on.

Murdock awoke that morning and was very excited about the pending reunion. Kami couldn't help smiling to herself at the pilot's obvious delight at seeing his friends again. She could hear him singing in the shower, enthusiastically belting out a rendition of "The Boys are back in Town!" She crept into the bathroom to find him playing Air Guitar on his wooden, long-handled bathroom loofah, with just a bath towel round his waist to hide his modesty!

_Guess who just got back today? _[he sang]

_Them wild-eyed boys that had been away_

_Haven't changed, haven't much to say_

_But man, I still think them cats are crazy_

_The boys are back in town_

_The boys are back in town_

_Friday night they'll be dressed to kill_

_Down at Dino's bar and grill_

_The drink will flow and blood will spill_

_And if the boys want to fight, you'd better let them._

_The boys are back in town_

_The boys are back in town_

He suddenly stopped when he sensed he was being watched. He turned round and saw Kami standing in the doorway, her eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Reminiscing about the good old days, Fly Boy?" she asked, frowning in mock disapproval."

"Jeez, kimosabi!", he exclaimed loudly. "Wotcha doing creeping up on me like that!"

"Just admiring the view," she replied, throwing him an approving glance.

"There's an even better view from over here," he quipped back, winking suggestively at her.

Kami threw her head back and laughed. "Why Captain, I do believe you're leading me astray!" she tutted.

However, she padded across the floor towards him and gently caressed the last few fading scars that still adorned his upper body.

"Actually, you've got a very nice singing voice," she commented, as she put her arms around him in a loving embrace.

Her touch sent shockwaves tingling down Murdock's spine. The anticipation of that first kiss always made his tummy flip over. It was the start of a great rollercoaster ride of desire and passion that would finally end in a complete feeling of fulfilment and contentment.

"Love you, HM," she whispered softly, as she became lost in the pools of his captivating brown eyes.

"Now, that's music to my ears," he purred back, before they finally succumbed to their sweet journey into paradise.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Intruders**

After breakfast, Kami and Murdock were busy preparing for the arrival of their guests, who were due to arrive at midday. Craig, Kami's brother and his wife Amanda were also joining them. Kami had just finished getting the team's bedrooms in order and came downstairs to find Murdock in the kitchen, suitably attired in his Marvel Super Hero apron and big floppy chef's hat, frantically scanning several cook books.

"Do you know what you're going to cook yet?" she asked. Murdock had insisted that he should be the one to prepare their gourmet feast.

He looked up from his book, looking slightly flustered.

"Well, I know Face likes pasta – and Hannibal likes fish – it's good for the brain you know." He paused whilst he pondered for a couple of seconds. "Then again, the Big Guy – well he loves his steak and chips." "But fear not, Sweet Potato, Murdock's final creation will tantalise everyone's taste buds with the fusion of exotic flavours and colours!"

"Sounds amazing," mused Kami. "Well I'm off to the shops in ten minutes, so if you need anything add it on to the list."

She put the list on the kitchen table and left the room to get her things together. When she came back in to say goodbye to Murdock he was already in full swing in preparing the meal – having obviously decided on a menu. He stopped briefly to engage her in a cuddle and a kiss before her departure.

"Drive carefully, baby," he said. Kami waved back at him as she grabbed her handbag and left the kitchen. She chuckled as she could hear him singing, "_The Boys are Back in Town, the Boys are back in Town_" quietly to himself.

Half an hour went by and Murdock was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn't hear three men force their way in through the back gate and stealthily make their way across the garden up to the kitchen. The wore matching camouflage outfits, caps and face masks and all three carried automatic rifles. As they burst through the back door, Murdock was taken completely by surprise.

"Er, guys," he said with more bravado than he felt, "It's customary for visitors to ring the front door bell first!"

One of the intruders came forward and pulled Murdock towards the oven. He pushed him over the heated electric ring on the hob, with inches to spare, and spoke to him in broken English.

"You are very funny, Senor," he said, "But I wonder if you will still be laughing with a 100 degree burn on your face."

Suddenly the men were disturbed by someone opening the front door. The intruder pulled Murdock up and pointed his rifle at him to keep him quiet. They could hear footsteps coming down the hall and Murdock's heart turned cold as he heard Kami calling out to him.

"HM, it's only me!" she yelled.

"Who is that?" whispered the man in Murdock's ear.

"It's only the house-keeper," replied Murdock, anxiously. "Please don't hurt her."

"You'll never guess darling," continued Kami, as her footsteps came nearer to the kitchen. "I've only gone and left the shopping list on the table!"

"Darling!" sneered the man sarcastically to Murdock. "Is she always so familiar?"

Murdock just shrugged his shoulders indifferently. He didn't want to say anything that would give away his feelings to the men.

"Good job I stopped for gas first or I wouldn't have realised …." Kami started to say as she walked into the kitchen.

Before Kami could finish her sentence, the second intruder came forward and pointed his rifle at her. She stopped in her tracks, surveying the situation in horror. She looked over to where Murdock was being held captive, her eyes widening in alarm.

"What's going on?" she demanded. "Why have you come here?"

The intruder who was holding Murdock spoke up in a menacing voice.

"My name is Rafael Fernandez," he said. "I come here to find the man they call Captain H M Murdock." "I believe he is a known associate of Colonel John Smith."

"What do you want with the Colonel?" asked Murdock, wondering what Hannibal had done to bring this man to their door.

"I have some unfinished business to settle with him," replied Fernandez. "He took my son's life and now I come for retribution."

"What makes you think that coming after me will do any good?" asked Murdock. He wished he could see the man's face. It was very disconcerting having a conversation with a mask!

"He was prepared to admit to a murder during his own trial to get you off the hook," Fernandez replied in a cold voice. "He must think a lot of you, Senor – enough to die for you in front of an execution squad."

"There must be some mistake," said Murdock nervously. His gut instinct was telling him that he was in a whole pile of serious trouble! "Hannibal wouldn't willingly take the life of another person."

"He killed my son!" repeated Fernandez angrily. "And now I intend to make him suffer. He may have escaped execution, but he won't be so lucky this time round."

He punched Murdock in the face as if to make his point clear.

"Leave him alone!" shouted Kami in distress, moving forward to come to Murdock's defence. However, the assailant who was holding her at gun point, prodded her in the shoulder with the barrel of his rifle in a threatening manner and she froze where she stood looking on helplessly.

Meanwhile the third intruder had been nosing around the dining room, which was attached to the kitchen. He picked up a photograph from the sideboard. It was a recent photo of Murdock and Kami which had been taken at Christmas, looking very cosy and loved-up!

"Just the house-keeper, eh!" he mocked suspiciously, as he held the photo up to Murdock.

Fernandez seemed very interested in the photo.

"I think maybe this is your Senora," he said thoughtfully. "This brings a whole new prospective to things."

Although Murdock couldn't see Fernandez's face, he didn't like the way the tone in his voice had changed. He looked at Kami, anxiously, suddenly fearing for her safety.

"Tráigale!" [_bring her_], ordered Fernandez.

Kami was dragged forward by the third intruder, whist the other man kept her covered with the gun.

"No! -Wait!" pleaded Murdock, realising that Kami had now become the victim. "Let her go! You came here to take me not her!"

"Ah, but she is so much more pleasing to the eye than you, Amigo," drawled back Fernandez. "Besides she obviously means a great deal to you so no doubt she will also mean a great deal to the Colonel. I will get pleasure out of knowing he will feel guilty when you tell him she has been abducted. But don't worry – I will be touch in a couple of days - once I have left him to stew over what's happened."

As Murdock began to protest, Fernandez rammed the butt of his gun into his ribs, making Murdock double up in pain.

"A word of warning – don't even think about going to the Police or you will never see the little lady again," he continued and then punched and hit Murdock until he fell on to the floor.

"Stop it, please, don't hurt him!" cried Kami, struggling in vain against the man who was trying to drag her away.

"Shut up, Senora!" snarled her kidnapper in a warning voice. "You will come quietly and without any fuss or your boyfriend buys it right here and now!"

Kami looked back at Murdock as she was dragged from the kitchen, anguish written all over her face as she saw him lying motionless on the floor. Fernandez gave him one final kick in the ribs before following his two men out of the house and back down the garden. They pulled off their masks and escorted Kami quickly down the drive and back to the road. They bundled her into a parked car and drove off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Abduction**

Somewhere in his sub-conscious, Murdock heard a voice calling urgently to him.

"Murdock, Murdock, wake up!"

He opened his eyes slowly and his gaze fell upon Kami's brother, Craig, who had arrived with his wife, Amanda. They had been ringing the front door bell for some time and had got worried when no-one answered. Craig finally decided to use his front door key to let them in and found Murdock out cold on the kitchen floor.

"What's happened, Murdock?" said Craig as he helped him into a sitting position. "Where's Kami?"

As Murdock's thought process started to kick in, he slowly remembered what had happened. He looked back at Craig, his face etched with panic and horror.

"She's g-g-gone," he stammered.

"What!" exclaimed Craig, a little puzzled. "You're not making any sense Murdock!" "Gone where?"

"Don't know!" moaned Murdock, shaking his head, as if to try and rid himself of the fuzzy feeling that was dulling his senses. He grabbed his ribs at the sudden movement.

"Are your ribs sore?" asked Craig, in a concerned voice. He knew that Murdock had just recovered from a broken rib injury.

"Took quite a beating," grimaced back Murdock.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, making them all jump.

"I'll get it," said Craig. "Amanda, stay here and look after Murdock."

Craig changed positions with Amanda and went to the front door.

"Who is it?" he asked warily.

"It's me, kid - Hannibal!" came back the reply.

Craig flung open the door to find all the team assembled in front of him.

"Thank God!" he exclaimed as he opened the door and ushered them into the house. "There's been an incident. Kami is missing and Murdock has been hurt. I can't get any sense out of him."

Everyone trooped into the kitchen. Murdock was still sitting on the floor, obviously very traumatised about something. Amanda was trying to calm him down. She had grabbed some ice from the icebox and was carefully holding it against a bruise that was beginning to develop under Murdock's eye, where Fernandez had hit him. Hannibal squeezed Amanda's shoulder as he bent down beside them.

"Thanks, Amanda," he said, "We'll take it from here. BA, help me get him up."

BA came forward and together they hauled Murdock up and over to the dining room. Murdock flopped down into a chair.

"What's going on, buddy?" asked Face.

"Some men came," answered Murdock in a tense voice. "One of them was very angry – he said that Hannibal had killed his son and he wanted to get revenge."

"Can you be a bit more specific, Murdock?" asked Face. "After all, Hannibal has probably hacked off a whole string of people over the last few years! Did he tell you who he was?"

Murdock screwed up his face as he tried to recall the incident. It had all happened so fast and the shock of losing Kami was clouding his ability to think straight. Hannibal could see he was struggling to keep it together, so decided to use a more military approach – which had worked in the past - to bring the pilot out of his quandary.

"Think, Captain!" he snapped at him. "Kami may be in great danger. There must be something you remember?"

Hannibal's words cut through Murdock's haze. His eyes opened wide as he started to remember.

"Fern … Fern .. Fernandez," he suddenly stuttered. "His name was Fernandez – Rafael Fernandez. Sounded Spanish or, possibly, Mexican. There were three of them altogether – all wearing army fatigues and masks and armed with rifles."

"Fernandez?" repeated Hannibal. "Did you recognise him, Captain?"

"No," replied Murdock, sounding pretty certain.

"Then it must be someone we got involved with before you joined us on our missions," established Hannibal. "That should narrow it down. Face, any ideas?"

Face thought back to some of their earlier cases. There were very few that Murdock hadn't accompanied them on whilst he had been a patient in the VA clinic. Just a couple at the beginning when he was getting used to being part of the real world again. After a few seconds a look of recognition appeared on his face.

"I remember a Juan Fernandez," he said. "He was that hoodlum who kidnapped some wealthy business man's son. It was the time that BA got shot in the leg and we had to take him to Bad Rock – to Maggie's – remember?"

"Yeah, that's right!" growled BA. "I got shot because Face screwed up! You were supposed to be rear guard but you messed up!" He rounded in a threatening manner on the Lieutenant. "I never did get round to paying you back for that, sucker!"

"Ok guys," sighed Hannibal. "Can we concentrate on one problem at a time?" "Face, you may be right. There was an awful lot of gunfire going off during that rescue, but I don't remember anyone getting killed."

"Yes, but we had to make a quick getaway," said Face. "Once we got the boy back to his father, we didn't hang around." "We had to get BA to hospital."

"But I don't understand, Hannibal," said Craig anxiously. "Why did he take Kami if he originally came for Murdock?"

"Well my guess is that this was an opportune kidnapping," surmised Hannibal. "I don't know how he knew Murdock was here, but he obviously didn't expect to find anyone with him."

"You don't think they'll hurt her, do you?" continued Craig.

Hannibal put a reassuring arm around Craig.

"I don't think so, kid," he replied, through gritted teeth. "If this guy Fernandez is involved, then I'm the one he wants to hurt. Murdock, can you remember anything else?"

Murdock racked his brains for a few moments. He had calmed down considerably since the team had arrived and he knew he had to keep it together if they had any hope of finding Kami.

"Fernandez warned me not to go to the Police," he said. "And then he mentioned something about getting in touch with us in a few days. Wanted to make sure you took a guilt trip first."

"I'm glad the girls aren't here," said Face suddenly. "This guy may be watching us right now."

Everyone looked a bit uneasy at Face's comment.

"That's a good point, Lieutenant," agreed Hannibal. "Although I'm afraid he's already got what he came for. We should take precautions though, until we know exactly what we are dealing with."

He glanced over at Craig and Amanda, who were listening to everything in horror.

"Craig, I think you and Amanda should lie low for a bit," he said. "I don't want this guy coming after either of you two."

"Well, I think Amanda should go," said Craig firmly. "But I'm staying until I know what's going on, Hannibal, and don't try to tell me otherwise!"

Hannibal chuckled to himself. He should have known Craig wouldn't leave. He was very close to his sister and being the eldest, he would feel it was his duty to make sure she was alright.

"Okay, Craig," he replied. "Amanda, is there anyone you can stay with until we get this thing sorted?"

"I could stay with my sister," she said. "I've got a couple of weeks holiday owing and I've been promising to visit her for a while now."

"Perfect!" said Hannibal.

"What we gonna do in the meantime?" asked BA. "You better have a plan, Hannibal!"

"Well it would be too risky to go to the Police, but we could ask General Stockwell for help," said Hannibal. "He may be able to get us some inside information on this." "Are we all agreed?"

Everyone nodded, if not reluctantly. Murdock sniffed back his tears. He closed his eyes, conjuring up a picture of Kami in his mind. He thought back to their intimate liaison earlier. He could still taste her minty-fresh kiss and feel her comforting arms holding him tight. It was time for him to start believing in miracles again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Jigsaw**

Hannibal glanced anxiously at Murdock. He knew the pilot would be struggling to cope with what was happening mentally.

"You okay, Captain?" asked Hannibal. "Do we need to take you to see a doctor to look at those injuries?" "That's one hell of a shiner you've got there!"

Murdock shook his head, touching his black eye delicately.

"No Colonel, I'm okay," he replied. "Ribs a bit sore, but nothing serious to worry about."

After establishing that Murdock didn't need medical attention, Hannibal went to make the call to the General. Craig took the opportunity to take home Amanda so she could make arrangements to stay with her sister. He returned a couple of hours later, having safely left her at her destination.

Shortly after Craig arrived, Face came running in with a message from the General, who had sent through the information they were waiting for on the van's fax machine.

"What's the SP, Face?" asked Hannibal.

Face began reading from the fax message.

"Profile on Juan Fernandez:

Ethnicity: Mexican/Guatemalan

Active member of the Gulf Cartel until his death on 29 July 1983.

Status: Sicario (Hitman).

Territory: USA: Louisiana/Illinois/California/Brownsville.

Criminal activity: money laundering; kidnapping; theft.

Killed in California as a result of a bullet to the head from an AK-47 rifle."

"AK-47?" queried Hannibal. "We don't carry that in our armoury."

"I guess he must have got killed in the cross-fire from his own guys!" said BA.

"I guess," reflected Hannibal, a deep frown spreading across his face. He was relieved that the man's killing had not been as a direct result of the A-Team, but it didn't make him feel any less good about it. "Anything else, Face?"

Face skimmed quickly over the profile.

"Just goes on to confirm that he was generally a foot solider for the Cartel," he said. "Carried out assassinations and other violent crimes and defended his territory from rival gangs and the Mexican Military."

"What about Rafael Fernandez?" asked Murdock, anxiously.

Face continued reading from the fax.

"Profile on Rafael Fernandez:

Ethnicity: Mexican/Guatemalan

Active member of the Gulf Cartel. Supervised hitmen and would carry out low-level assassinations without permission from his bosses. Would have reached Drug Lord status before being sent to prison in 1967 for his involvement in drug and weapons trafficking. Sentenced to 20 years. Released: 1987.

Status: Lugarteniente (Lieutenant).

Territory: Mexico: Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

Criminal activity: drug trafficking; people smuggling; extortion; kidnapping; murder; prostitution …"

"Okay Face," cut in Hannibal quickly, as Murdock and Craig both turned a deathly shade of white. "I think we get the picture!"

"This has got to be the sleaze ball, Hannibal!" barked BA, clenching his fist in anger.

"Still doesn't explain how he knew Murdock was here, though," questioned Craig.

"Well news of the A-Team's pardons was plastered all over the TV," said Face. "Come to think of it, didn't the media give mention that Murdock was living in Angelino Heights? After all, he was the only one with a fixed address at the time."

The others pondered over Face's comment. It did seem pretty plausible. Although they had been very careful about making sure no-one close to the team were implicated in the report, information about their return to Los Angeles had leaked out. Hannibal finally broke the silence.

"I guess it wouldn't have taken too much intelligence to track Murdock down," he said. "After all, this guy has obviously been harbouring a grudge for the last 5 years."

"I think the pieces of the jigsaw are finally beginning to fit now," said Face.

"What do you think our chances are of finding Kami, Hannibal?" asked Craig.

"This sounds more and more like an opportune kidnapping," replied Hannibal. "I think Fernandez is just winging it at the moment. That could give us the advantage."

"What do we do now?" asked Murdock.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to wait for him to make the next move," replied Hannibal. "In the meantime, I'll get Stockwell to get the wheels in motion to find out where we can find this scumbag!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Waiting in limbo**

It was now the third day since Kami had been abducted. Murdock was somehow managing to keep it together, despite the fact that he felt like someone had just ripped his heart out.

Craig was also on tender hooks, the anguish growing on his face as each day passed without a word of his sister's whereabouts.

General Stockwell had sent out operatives to infiltrate the Gulf Cartel underground. He had agents posted across the border in Matamoros, Mexico, which was the territory Fernandez was known to be active in.

It was late morning, and Murdock had just come back after taking his imaginary dog, Billy, for a walk to clear his head. Face came over and sat with his best friend.

"Nice walk?" he enquired. "Billy didn't chase Mrs Green's poodle again, did he?"

Before Murdock could answer, someone wrapped loudly on the front door.

"Postman!" cried a voice.

Murdock got up and answered the door.

"Parcel for you today, Mr Murdock," said the Postie, cheerfully. "Sign here."

"Thanks Joe," replied Murdock, scribbling his signature on the paper.

"You have a good day, now!" said Joe, as he scurried off down the path.

"Huh, oh yeah, you too," said Murdock, in a rather absent-minded manner. He was looking at the details on the parcel which was addressed to "Col John Smith, c/o Mr H M Murdock".

"HANNIBAL!" he shouted out urgently, as he rushed back into the living room. He had a suspicious feeling about this parcel. He ran straight into BA who growled at him in his usual manner.

"What's up fool?" he said gruffly, although Murdock could see him bristling with concern.

"I think we've got something!" he replied earnestly. "This has come for Hannibal."

Hannibal took the parcel from Murdock. He quickly ripped it open to reveal an unlabelled video tape. Everyone stared at it , rather apprehensively, until BA finally spoke up.

"Well don't just stand there, Hannibal," he barked out impatiently. "Let's find out what it is, man!"

Hannibal went over to the TV, turned in on and inserted the video into the machine. After a few moments a man appeared on the screen. He was of burly appearance, with a receding mass of wavy black hair with a peppering of grey mixed in. Two bushy eyebrows framed his dark, callous eyes and his mouth was set in a hard, unsmiling grimace. Murdock instantly recognised his voice when he started to speak.

"You have probably guessed who I am by now, Senor Smith. But just in case you need a reminder, I am Rafael Fernandez, the father of the son killed during a firefight involving three criminals known as the A-Team. That was a bad move, Colonel, and one that you will pay for dearly. I thought justice had prevailed when you went down in the A-Team trial but somehow you managed to evade execution. However, I have something here that will even out the odds for the time being."

The camera angle changed and slowly panned away from Fernandez until Kami came into view. She was sitting tied to a chair, with one of Fernandez's men standing behind her. She was still wearing the same clothes and her hair fell in an unruly mess around her grubby and tear-stained face. She looked a bit dazed, almost as if she wasn't used to being in a well-lit room. But as she adjusted to the light the guys were relieved to see that she had a hint of defiance visible in her deep blue eyes.

"As you can see we have the Captain's lady friend," Fernandez's voice continued off camera. "I'm afraid I have been busy with other matters, so she has been rather neglected. However, my men tell me she is a spirited young filly and so I am looking forward to getting acquainted with her properly very soon."

Craig gasped in horror, whilst BA cursed loudly. Murdock dug his finger nails into the palms of his hands as he gazed intently at the screen, not taking his eyes off Kami. He heard Fernandez ordering her to speak into the camera. He bit his lip nervously as she bravely did what she was told.

"Hi guys!", she said, sounding surprising calm considering her situation. "I'm fine so don't worry about me, okay! I haven't been hurt, but Hannibal – you've got to come through the front door – repeat – you've got to come through the front door!"

Fernandez yelled angrily at Kami in Mexican whilst the man behind her slapped her hard so she wouldn't say anything more. Murdock jumped up from his seat in alarm, a dark expression eclipsing his usual cheery disposition. Kami continued with her ranting, even though she was being restrained by the guard.

"HM – Craig – I love you both!" she cried out her voice charged with emotion. "Remember – gotta come through the front door!"

The camera panned back in on Fernandez, who was looking agitated.

"I don't know what message the Senora was trying to convey," he retorted, "But don't try to get smart, Colonel. I'm calling the shots here, so don't do anything that is likely to put her life in danger. I will be in touch again soon with arrangements of our impending meeting."

The message finished and the video clicked off. Hannibal bent down and stopped the tape. There was a stunned silence whilst everyone took in what they had just heard. Murdock was still staring at the TV, almost as if he was wishing that Kami would just somehow miraculously appear and end this god-awful nightmare. Craig was the first one to finally break the silence.

"What the hell was all that about, Hannibal?" he asked, his voice full of trepidation. "Sounds like Kami thinks she could be in real trouble."

Hannibal took one of his customary cigars out of his pocket and lit it up, momentarily breaking with his tradition of not smoking in Kami's house. He needed to feel that pure nicotine rush to his head to help him think straight. After he had inhaled a couple of times he answered Craig's question.

"Sounds like Kami was trying to warn us not to listen to Fernandez," he replied. "If she wants us to come through the front door she obviously thinks we shouldn't wait for an invitation!"

"Then she must be suspicious that Fernandez is going to play dirty," said Face.

"Do you think this scuzball is just going to keep us hangin'?" asked BA. "That means he must have other plans for Kami if he isn't going to use her as bait to bring us in."

"You don't think he's hurt her already, do you?" said Face, in a worried voice. "I mean – we don't know when this recording took place."

"No!" snapped back Murdock vehemently. "She still had a fire burning in her eyes that said she hadn't given up hope yet."

"I agree with Murdock," said Craig. "She still looked like she had plenty of fight left in her!"

"So what are we going to do, Hannibal?" asked Face. "Do we go with Kami's intuition and make a surprise attack or do we play it safe and wait for further contact from Fernandez?"

"Seems to me like this weasel has bigger fish to fry at the moment," responded Hannibal. "I don't think he's going to be bothering her until he finishes his current deal. We've got to try and get her out before then, because somehow I don't think we're going to get an invitation to dinner anytime soon!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"We've got to find her quick, Hannibal," said Craig, beginning to fret as he realised time was running out for his sister. "If he does anything bad to her – well – she won't react in a good way."

Murdock glanced up at Craig, uneasily. He knew what he meant. He recalled a conversation he had with Kami the year before when she had been a victim of a serious assault. Luckily the team had come to her rescue, but Murdock would never forget how she had hinted to him later on that she would rather die than be subjected to any kind of physical violation.

"We need to let Stockwell know about this," said Hannibal grimly. "I'll go and update him now."

Hannibal left the room to make the call. An eerie silence descended as everyone were lost in their own private thoughts. Murdock got up and rewound the video tape, pausing it when a close-up of Kami's face appeared on screen. He touched the glass and traced his finger slowly down the side of her cheek. The others watched helplessly, unable to find any words of comfort to relieve his distress.

Ironically, the only hope they had of finding Fernandez quickly was now well and truly in the hands of their former nemeses, General Hunt Stockwell.


	6. Chapter 6

[**_Note: The places are real but geographically, I have used poetic licence! I am not a travel agent and it may not appear exactly as it is in the brochure!_**]

**Chapter 6: The A-Team to the rescue!**

The following day the team and Craig received news to meet General Stockwell at one of his numerous venues that he used to carry out his private business. They all assembled in front of him, in eager anticipation of news about Kami.

"You will be pleased to know that Miss Wilson has been located and appears to be safe and well," said the General.

This news was met with a huge sigh of relief from everyone.

"Where is she, General?" asked Murdock, unable to keep his voice from wavering with unrestrained emotion.

"She is being held prisoner at Fernandez's home in the Sacramento Mountains," replied Stockwell. "He has a lodge deep in the Lincoln National Forest, about a mile out from High Rolls. My agent on the inside has reported that Fernandez left for Matamoros yesterday to finalise a drug trafficking deal, which may take a couple of days to sort out."

"Then we need to get in and get her out before he returns," said Hannibal.

"Can't your man get her out?" asked Craig.

"The lodge is very heavily guarded," replied the General. "It would be very risky to try with just one man. And I am sure I don't have to remind you that officially we don't have any jurisdiction to interfere in this territory."

"Couldn't you ask the Mexican Military for help?" persisted Craig.

"I'm afraid the Cartel own most of the Military, Mr Wilson," said Stockwell. "It is fairly common practice that kidnappers operate with the assistance of corrupted Police officers."

"But …." protested Craig before Hannibal interrupted him.

"Listen, kid," he said. "I know you're worried about Kami, but we need to make sure we don't put her in any more danger."

"Hannibal's right, Craig," interjected Face. "If Fernandez finds Kami before we get a chance to bring her out first, then there's no knowing what he might do to her."

"Besides," sneered Hannibal. "I want to meet this slug so we can get some closure on this. I don't want to leave it open for him to come after anyone else. But I want to make sure we get Kami out first."

Craig backed down, somewhat reluctantly. He knew the guys were right. This just wasn't about getting Kami back safely, it was about making sure Fernandez didn't come after Hannibal – or anyone else - again.

"What's the best way to traverse the terrain?" asked Murdock. "I'm guessing we're not gonna be able to get any air support up there."

"High Rolls is elevated at about 6,500 feet, so I'm afraid air support is out of the question," confirmed Stockwell. "It's location is 8 miles east of Alamogordo and can be accessed via Highway 82. The lodge is in a particularly isolated position that can be accessed by minor roads and then a private dirt track. But you'll draw attention to yourselves if you try and use it, so it's going to have to be a straight hike up once you leave the main route. Abel 9 will be able to guide you there and help with the rescue."

"What's the nearest airport?" asked Hannibal.

"Holloman Air Force Base is approximately 10 miles away from the destination," replied Stockwell. "I can get a pilot available to fly for you, hopefully by tomorrow morning."

"No need for that General," said Murdock. "I'll be flying this mission. I'm not going to waste any more time - we need to get Kami out now."

There was an awkward silence following Murdock's announcement. Everyone in the room was well aware that Murdock hadn't piloted a plane since he had been shot down, captured and tortured, during his last assignment under the General. In fact, he hadn't made any mention of wanting to fly again until now.

"Are you sure you're up to it Captain?" asked Hannibal, who couldn't quite disguise the concern in his voice.

"I'm sure, Colonel," replied Murdock resolutely. "I need to do this but I understand if you guys don't want to fly with me."

Hannibal dismissed his remark with a vigorous shake of his head.

"No, no, Captain," he said encouragingly. "I have complete faith in you. Right Face?"

"Er …. right Colonel", hesitated Face rather apprehensively, managing to flash one of his dazzling smiles in Murdock's direction. "BA?"

"Oh man!" moaned BA, who had gone slightly green around the gills! "Hannibal's on the jazz again, he's on the jazz!"

"I'm coming too!" said Craig.

"I'm sorry, Craig, strictly no non-com personnel allowed on this one," said Hannibal, firmly.

"Well how about if I just come along for the ride?" pleaded Craig. "I promise I won't interfere with the rescue. Please, Hannibal!"

"Okay Craig," relented Hannibal, thinking that it might be safer if Craig was with them. "But you stay out of the way, okay?"

Craig nodded vigorously back in acknowledgement. Hannibal turned his attention back to Stockwell.

"OK, General," he affirmed. "Let's get rolling on this as soon as we can."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

By early afternoon Murdock had received his flight plan and co-ordinates and it wasn't long before they were all in the air and on their way to Alamogordo. Craig was gazing nervously out of the window, whilst Hannibal, Face and BA were surveying the map of where the lodge was located. As the General had relayed in his briefing, it was in a pretty desolate area of the mountains.

"That's going to be quite a trek, Hannibal," deliberated Face. "I hope Kami is going to be in a position to make the climb back down.

"Well, the first half a mile or so looks quite even," said Hannibal. "We can follow the disused railway line for most of the way. It's just the last part of the mile where we have to ascend to the lodge that looks a bit rocky."

"Don't worry Faceman," said BA, fiercely. "I'll get our little sister back down safely even if I have to carry her down over my shoulder!"

Face slapped BA affectionately on the back feeling slightly reassured, although his blue-grey eyes still flickered apprehensively.

"I think I'll go and see how Murdock's holding up," he said, making his way to the cockpit. He scrambled into the seat next to him, the tension on the pilot's face clearly visible.

"How's it hanging, Murdock?" he enquired.

"Okay," replied Murdock, sounding anything but! "Feels great to be airborne again, though. Sort of keeps me focussed."

"That's good," said Face, glad that Murdock had some sort of diversion to keep his mind off Kami. "What's our ETA?"

"About another 40 minutes," responded Murdock, flatly.

Face gave Murdock a sideways glance. For the first time in a long time he looked totally bewildered and vulnerable. Face didn't like to think what would happened if he lost Kami. He needed her in his life as much as he needed the thrill and exhilaration of flying his beloved planes.

"Facey," Murdock said suddenly. "I've been having bad thoughts!"

"What about, buddy?" probed Face gently, alarm bells beginning to ring in his head.

"About what I'm going to do to Fernandez when we catch up with him," replied Murdock, his voice dripping in sinister undertones. "I hope to God he hasn't hurt Kami because if he has, I'm going to put my hands around his throat and press hard until I've squeezed every inch of breath from his body!"

Face shivered inwardly at this confession. Murdock had spat the words out with so much venom that he almost believed he would carry out his threat. He could be dangerously unpredictable when he  
reclined into one of his depressive moods. Not that he would ever hurt anyone intentionally, but if someone he cared about suffered unnecessarily, then the dark side of Murdock would take over. Face was glad he wasn't one of his enemies.

"It's perfectly normal to feel that way," pacified Face. "We all feel like that sometimes. Just don't say it out load, okay? That way you can keep your bad thoughts supressed."

Murdock looked at Face, arching his eyebrows at him in a bemused fashion.

"When did you ever have thoughts like that?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh, every time you used to jump feet first into my corvette through the window instead of opening the door!" jested Face. "Played havoc with the upholstery."

Murdock gave Face one of his goofy grins.

"Why my dear fellow, I never realised," he said apologetically in a crisp British accent. "So sorry old bean!

Face chuckled back, relieved that Murdock's black mood had lifted temporarily.

"She will be alright, Murdock," he said, becoming serious again. "Just keep it together for a little bit longer."

"No problem, Faceman," reassured Murdock. "I'm not going to fall apart just yet. Kami was there for me when I needed her the most and I'm sure as hell not going to let her down now." He paused for a couple of seconds before adding "Thanks Face," in a grateful voice.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It wasn't long before they had landed at Alamogordo, where they picked up their ride to take them to High Rolls. BA drove, with Hannibal sitting up front and the others piled in the back seat.

When they arrived at High Rolls, Abel 9, a man that went by the name of Agent Bryant, was there to meet them. He was of Mexican appearance and could speak the language fluently. He had apparently managed to get into the lodge undetected on the pretext of being one of Fernandez's men. He took them to a nearby hostel for a quick de-brief.

He introduced them to another agent called Simmons, who had been under surveillance at Matamoros, shadowing Fernandez. He had arrived back at High Rolls earlier in the day, armed with photographic evidence of contacts and deals he had been involved in. Once Kami was safely out of the way, it was evidence that could hopefully be used in getting Fernandez back inside again.

"Well Colonel Smith," said Bryant. "I've got good news and bad news. Fernandez has finished his deal in Matamoros earlier than expected and is probably on his way back as we speak."

"Damn!" cursed Hannibal. "I thought we might have a little more time on our side."

"The good news is, he took a lot of his men down to Matamoros with him," continued Bryant. "That means he has left the lodge under-manned security wise."

"Then we've got to strike now, Hannibal, while we've got the advantage," urged Murdock.

Hannibal frowned. His sixth sense was telling him that it all seemed a bit too convenient.

"He's taking a big risk leaving his operation exposed like that," he said in a doubtful voice.

"Yeah, but like you said, him taking Kami was just a spur of the moment thing," said BA. "I agree with Murdock, we've got to move now."

"If we're going, we need to move fast, Colonel," said Bryant. "It's already 15:30 hours and it's going to take at least 40 minutes to hike up to the lodge and possibly longer to get back down with the girl. We really don't want to be stumbling around on the mountain in the dark."

"Has Stockwell sent any more back-up?" asked Hannibal, still not totally happy with the nagging feeling that was playing around in his head.

"He mentioned putting a couple of snipers up on the ridge above the lodge," said Bryant. "There's a good view over the canyon from up there." "Plus we may get some help from the Military."

Hannibal turned to his second-in-command.

"What do you think, Face?" he asked.

"I think we've got to try, Colonel," replied Face. "If Fernandez gets back to the lodge first, there no telling what he'll do to Kami."

"Ok!" said Hannibal, making a quick decision. "Then we go now. BA get the rucksacks ready. Face, get the guns, but keep them out of sight for now – we don't want to start a panic! Simmons, get in contact with Stockwell and tell him we want those snipers in position."

He glanced over at Craig, who was hanging on anxiously to every word that was being said. He patted him supportively on the back.

"Stay here with Agent Simmons, kid, and try not and get into trouble before we get back!" he said to him kindly.

"Yes Hannibal," replied Craig, he eyes wide with hope and expectation. "Please bring her back safely. Good luck everybody."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Front door manoeuvre**

The team and Agent Bryant were soon making good progress through the canyon. There were quite a few hikers also using the route, making it easier for the group to blend in without drawing attention to themselves. It was only when they started the steep descent up towards the lodge that the crowds gradually began to thin out.

The last 10 minutes or so of the trail took them through a wooded part of the mountain. Hannibal was glad that they had the extra cover of the trees to keep them camouflaged from any prying eyes. The private dirt track was running parallel to where they were walking, so he knew they were close to their destination.

As they approached the lodge, Hannibal stopped to survey the situation. Everything appeared to be very quiet and peaceful. Two guards could be seen strolling idly around the perimeter, apparently oblivious to the imminent attack.

Bryant had told the team that Kami had been kept in a cellar room when she was first brought to the lodge. However, when Fernandez left for Matamoros she was moved to one of the guest bedrooms on the second floor. A guard was nearly always posted outside her room, who was rotated every couple of hours.

"Seems very quiet," whispered Hannibal cautiously to Bryant. "Apart from the guard outside Kami's room, where are all the rest of the goons likely to be hanging out?"

Bryant looked at his watch, observing that it was nearly 16:25 hours.

"There's a recreation room round the back of the lodge," he answered softly. "The men usually congregate there to chill out before the evening meal."

Hannibal turned to the rest of the team.

"We need to take those two guards out first," he said quietly. "Face, BA – that will be your job. Get them out of the way quickly and then hang back. Murdock, Bryant and myself will be going through the front door to get Kami out."

"Oh man!" moaned BA. "This feels like déjà vu all over again. You better not mess up this time, Face!"

"Alright, alright, BA," grumbled back Face, slightly offended by BA's constant reminder of his previous slip-up from years back. "You don't have to keep rubbing my nose in it!"

"I'll be rubbing a lot more than your nose in it if I get shot at again! barked back BA.

"Er, ladies, when you're quite finished bitching we've got a job to do here," reprimanded Hannibal.

BA and Face both gave Hannibal a rather sulky apology. They armed themselves with their guns and then focussed on the task in hand. They advanced quietly and nimbly towards the two men, keeping under cover of the trees as far as possible. The others followed them at a slower pace, waiting for their opportunity to make a dash to the lodge once the men had been taken out of the equation.

Face, of course acted as the decoy. He stumbled out of the woods first, bringing the men rushing over to him immediately. He made up some sob story about getting lost from his hiking party, clutching his leg as if he was in great pain.

He must have been fairly convincing because one of the men bent down to look at his leg, as if to offer some assistance. It was at that point when BA, who could move surprising quick for such a bulky man, suddenly came charging out, making a beeline for the other guard. He knocked him out cold before he even knew what had hit him! Face punched the other man swiftly in the stomach making him double over in pain and BA finished him off with a karate-chop to the back of the neck. They disarmed them and quickly dragged them into the woods.

As they tied and gagged them up, they could see Hannibal, Murdock and Bryant running towards the lodge. Face and BA stayed hidden under the trees, primed and ready to go in if back-up was needed.

The others had now entered the lodge through the French windows. Still there appeared to be no sign of anyone and Hannibal was beginning to get increasingly twitchy – it all seemed too easy. He and Murdock followed Bryant towards a long winding staircase that led up to the first floor. As they approached the landing, they slowed down to a halt. Bryant gingerly poked his head round the corner and could see the guard sitting outside Kami's room reading a newspaper.

"Can you get him to leave his post and lure him over here?" whispered Hannibal in Bryant's ear. Bryant nodded in acknowledgement. He took a deep breath and then rushed out on to the landing taking a few strides towards the guard.

"Come quick!" he shouted out in Mexican, making the guard jump out of his seat in a flustered state. "There's trouble outside! Bring your gun!"

Bryant swivelled round on his heels and ran back towards Hannibal and Murdock. The guard was soon in hot pursuit and as he neared the top of the stairs, Murdock suddenly jumped out and punched him hard in the face grabbing his rifle from his hand as he fell back under the weight of the blow. Murdock pointed the gun at him to keep him covered on the ground.

"Nice, Murdock!" grinned Hannibal as Bryant frisked the guard to get the key to Kami's room. He handed it to Murdock. Hannibal and Bryant dragged him into a nearby bathroom, where Hannibal took some rope and a gag out of his rucksack and handed them to Bryant.

"Tie him up and we'll get Kami," he ordered and then rushed after the pilot who was already making his way towards her room. Murdock fumbled in his frustration to get the key in the lock and swung the door open in eager anticipation.

"Kami!", he yelled desperately, scanning the room frantically for her. His heart stopped for a second when there was no sign of her. Then he heard a small voice cry out from between a large wardrobe and a chest of drawers.

"HM! Is that you?"

Murdock rushed towards the sound of her voice. She was standing squashed up in between the space between the wardrobe and the chest of drawers, clutching what looked like a baseball bat.

"What's with the baseball bat?" he asked slightly perplexed. He took her hand to help her out of her hiding place.

She threw the bat to the ground and flung her arms round Murdock, who pulled her into an demonstrative embrace

"Oh, it's been my new best friend since I've been locked up in here," she replied in a tearful voice. "I found it under the bed when I was nosing round the room and thought it might come in handy."

Murdock didn't like the sound of her reply. He gently pushed her back so he could look at her properly. She looked pale and tired and he scowled as he saw fading bruises on the side of her face. She had on different clothes to what he remembered her wearing on the day she was abducted and her long hair was tied back in a tidy plait.

It was at that point that Hannibal came into the room. His piercing blue eyes sparkled with relief when he saw Kami. She smiled back at him as he came over to join them, giving her his own fatherly hug.

"You know, kid," he sighed in fake resignation. "I hope you're not going to make this kidnapping thing a regular occurrence. I'm getting too old for all these heroics!"

Kami chuckled. Over the last year, since the first day of meeting the A-Team, she had been subjected to almost as many kidnapping plots as Murdock!

"Sorry Pops!" she apologised.

Agent Bryant appeared in the doorway.

"Colonel," he said urgently. "I hate to break up the happy reunion but we really need to get out of here."

"Understood!" replied Hannibal. "Murdock, you and Kami follow Bryant and I'll bring up the rear. Let's move!"

The procession cautiously made their way across the landing and back down the winding staircase. Bryant hovered on the last step as he heard laughter and voices coming from one of the ground floor rooms. He raised his hand at the others to keep quiet. They all pressed their backs against the wall and waited with baited breath until eventually the voices faded into the distance.

Bryant continued on across the hall and back to the room where they had entered previously through the French windows. He stopped and peered out across the courtyard to make sure the coast was clear. He immediately saw Face and BA signalling to him from the woods that everything was okay.

They all made the short dash towards the trees. Kami fell into Face and BA's arms and they twirled her round in delight. The two goons who they had taken out earlier, were still sitting back-to-back on the ground, tied up and gagged.

"Did they hurt you, little mama?" growled BA fiercely.

"No, I'm okay, BA," replied Kami. "But I'm glad you came through the front door when you did." She shivered violently as she continued. "One of the guards told me that Fernandez is coming back today. I sure didn't want him anywhere around me – he gives me the creeps!"

Hannibal frowned at the sound of his name. His instinct was telling him that they weren't out of the woods yet. He wouldn't rest properly until he had got Kami out of the way and then he was looking forward to the impending confrontation with the slimeball!

"Face – you've got point," he ordered. "And stay alert!"

Face raised his eyebrows enquiringly around the team.

"Anyone want to change places?" he asked hopefully.

"Face!" warned Hannibal sternly.

"Get going, sucker!" cut in BA. "I'm taking rear guard this time so at least I don't have to worry about you messing up!"

"Jeez, BA!" moaned Face as he took the lead at the front of the group. "I've already apologised a million times. Can't you just let it go?"

BA mumbled on about how he was still going to make Face pay when this was all over until Hannibal finally hushed him up. They crept furtively through the woods in single file until they finally began the steep descent back down into the canyon.

As Face suspected, Kami was finding the hike down tough going. Lack of sleep, food and exercise were finally beginning to take a toll on her body and she was feeling light headed. It didn't help that she wasn't exactly wearing the correct footwear to deal with the rocky terrain. She was finding it hard to get a grip on the loose stones and Murdock had to stop her several times from tripping over. They had just left the cover of the woods and had entered into a clearing, when Kami suddenly stopped.

"HM," she said, clutching his hand. "I don't think I can go on much further. Feel … dizzy." With that she swooned forward and Murdock caught her in his arms. Hannibal, who was directly behind them came running over and Bryant who was in front of them called to Face to stop.

"What's wrong, Murdock?" asked Hannibal in a concerned voice.

"Kami's a bit unsteady on her legs," answered Murdock, gently positioning her on a large boulder so she could sit down. She put her head in her hands and tried to stop the giddiness from escalating.

"Sorry, Hannibal," she said. "Don't mean to slow you down. I just need a couple of minutes."

Hannibal looked around anxiously. This wasn't a good place to stop as there wasn't as many wooded areas to hide in and they were very much out in the open. He felt like eyes were watching them from the shadows. He wanted to get back down to the canyon where the trail was easier to traverse and they would be closer to civilisation again. But he could see Kami was struggling and he didn't want to add to her obvious distress at having brought the procession to a halt.

"Okay, kid," he said. "2 minutes and then we get going."

Kami nodded back gratefully. Murdock delved into his rucksack and brought out some chocolate for her to eat. Kami nibbled on it eagerly, glad to get some sugar into her system. Hannibal went over to speak to Face and Bryant, whilst BA stayed at the rear, eyes alert to any movement from the woods which they had just left behind them.

"Feeling better, kimosabi?" asked Murdock as he gave her some water to wash down the chocolate.

Kami nodded again and as she looked up at him, she could see the strain evident in his eyes. She returned his gaze with a look that only two people in love truly understood. He reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and tenderly kissed her on the forehead.

"Very touching!" a voice suddenly said from behind them.

Murdock swung round to find Fernandez standing inches away from him, gun pointing at them both. BA had been captured in a similar fashion by one of his accomplices, having been taken completely by surprise.

Hannibal immediately came forward, but stopped as Fernandez charged his rifle and then continued to point it at Murdock and Kami. The third man came forward to cover Hannibal, Face and Bryant, who put their weapons down in surrender.

"Colonel Smith, I presume?" sneered Fernandez.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: For the love of Murdock**

Fernandez looked Hannibal over with a fastidious eye.

"I am trying to work out whether you are very foolish or very brave to come here," he said. "I think maybe you are a bit of both."

"Well now I'm here, I see no reason why you need the others," replied Hannibal. "Let them go - this is between us."

"I'm afraid it doesn't quite work that way, Colonel," said Fernandez. "It was never my intention for you to come here and I'm certainly not interested in anything you have to say. I could have had you killed at any time but that would have been too easy. The girl was all I needed to get my revenge. I have big plans for her."

"But you know we didn't kill your son," challenged Hannibal, a sudden pang of anxiety hitting him hard in the chest as his biggest fear had just been confirmed. This was how Fernandez was going to get his revenge – by hurting the people who were closest to him.

"You may not have pulled the trigger but his death was as a consequence of your actions," accused Fernandez, his eyes flashing with unrelenting hatred. "And as the leader of the A-Team I hold you responsible for the outcome."

This wasn't going quite as well as Hannibal had planned. He knew they had taken a big gamble coming here. But what would have been the alternative? Kami would of have been whisked off God knows where if they hadn't rescued her when they did. And then he would not only have had her ill-fated misfortune on his conscious, but also the guilt of seeing Murdock and Craig being torn apart day by day by their own anguish and torment.

He glanced discretely up to the ridge above the canyon and hoped that Stockwell's snipers were in position. He had a feeling that they were going to need them. He tried to stall for some time.

"Don't be a fool, Fernandez!" said Hannibal. "You must know we didn't get this far on our own."

Fernandez laughed scornfully.

"Is that supposed to be a threat, Colonel?" he said, sarcastically. "Do you think you are dealing with a bunch of girl guides? I belong to the biggest Cartel in Mexico. There is no-one we can't buy or blackmail to get what we want."

"But this isn't anything to do with the Cartel," goaded Hannibal. "This is a personal vendetta. And now you've exposed your organisation to the outside world. Do you really think you're bosses are going to back you up?"

"Enough of this!" exclaimed Fernandez, although it was obvious that Hannibal had touched a nerve.

Fernandez turned his attention back to Kami. Murdock immediately pushed her behind him.

"You're not taking her!" he said in a determined voice.

"Move, Captain, or I will shoot you down!" threated Fernandez. "I only have to pull the trigger."

Kami anxiously pulled Murdock back. BA twitched nervously in the background wishing there was something he could do to help his blood brother. The others watched in despair, also knowing there was nothing they could do to help.

Fernandez beckoned to Kami to come forward. She cowered away from him, a look of pure repulsion on her face.

"I will kill him, Senora!" warned Fernandez, his finger resting on the trigger.

Kami looked desperately at Murdock, who was shaking his head vigorously at her.

"I'm sorry, HM," she said, a look of dejection etched on her face. "I have to do as he says. You do understand, don't you?"

Murdock understood only too well. The light had gone out in her eyes and he found himself staring into a dark, detached vacuum of hopelessness. It was the same reflection that he had seen in his own eyes when they had broken him in the PoW camp. She didn't have any intention of surrendering to Fernandez, which left her with only one option.

Kami walked away from him without looking back. Fernandez released his trigger finger, but kept the gun on Kami until she was within his reach. The other two men started to back off slowly.

"Good-bye, Senior Smith," derided Fernandez. "It was nice doing business with you."

Keeping his gun pointed at Kami, he started to walk backwards. After they had retreated a few paces Kami stopped and stood her ground.

"Keep moving!" Fernandez snarled at her.

"No!" she rebuffed defiantly. "I would rather die than go with you."

She suddenly lunged at him and tried to grab the rifle. The others looked on in horror, trying to establish if she was hoping to create a diversion or whether she was taunting Fernandez to shoot her.

Of course he was far too strong for her to overcome. He laughed at her attempts to disarm him, but that only made Kami mad and she spat, rather unceremoniously, in his face. He lashed out at her in anger and she fell on to the ground. She crawled away from him and for a moment she thought he would shoot her as he pointed the rifle in her direction.

"Be careful what you wish for", he said in a menacing tone. "Girls like you are easily replaceable. But I think I know how to dampen that spirit of yours."

He changed the angle of the gun so it was pointing back at Murdock. It was then that the pilot was blinded by a flash of light from the road up on the ridge, seconds before Fernandez pulled the trigger. He saw Fernandez's body spasm as the sniper's bullet went through him. As he fell forward, the butt of the rifle dipped down and went off.

Unfortunately, Kami, who was lying on the ground between Fernandez and Murdock, suddenly jumped up as she realised Fernandez was going to shoot Murdock. She took the full force of the bullet in her lower back.

Murdock had heard many gun shots in his time. But none sounded more deadly or louder than that shot as it ricocheted round the mountain. His ears rung with fear and dread. The sight of Kami being pummelled forward by the force of the shot would be an image that he would never forget.

He rushed towards her as she finally fell on to her knees. He arched his body over her, protectively, as the sniper then began to shoot – with amazing accuracy – at Fernandez's men. As the bullets rained around them, they instinctively threw themselves on the ground, giving Bryant and the team a chance to gain the advantage over them.

Murdock held on to Kami until the shooting stopped and the men were captured. He sat on the ground and drew her into an embrace, the blood that was seeping from her wound soaking his clothes. He gently wiped the dirt and tears from her face, her shallow breathing giving him more cause for concern.

"Why did you do that Kami?" he asked in a wretched voice.

Kami raised her hand up slowly to caress his cheek.

"For you, my love", she whispered breathlessly. "Only … ever be … you." Her hand flopped down again like a lead balloon as her eyes fluttered shut.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Unlikely hero**

"HANNIBAL!" screamed Murdock at the top of his voice. "HANNIBAL – HELP!"

Hannibal came running over, leaving Face to cover Fernandez's man. Bryant made a dash towards Fernandez to check on his situation. BA had the third man covered.

When Hannibal reached Murdock, he was cradling Kami in his arms, rocking her backwards and forwards, whilst muttering inconsolably to himself. Hannibal knelt down beside them and pressed two fingers at the side of her neck to check for a pulse. It was slow and erratic, but he could definitely make one out.

"Murdock, let go," he said gently. "We need to lie her down and keep her still."

"She's … she's not dead?" he stuttered incredulously, his eyes brimming with tears.

"She has a faint pulse," replied Hannibal, trying to prise Kami away from him. "We need to stem the flow of blood quickly."

Murdock hadn't even noticed that he was soaked in Kami's blood. He hesitantly let her go and Hannibal laid her down gently on her side. He lifted up her t-shirt and could see where the bullet had entered her back. He made a quick examination to look for an exit hole, but couldn't see anything obvious. He had to presume that the bullet was still in her body.

"Get the First Aid Kit, Captain?" he snapped at Murdock, "Hurry!"

Murdock dived into his rucksack and brought out the kit. He handed Hannibal some gauzing and bandages and he started to pack off the bleeding. Bryant came over to offer some assistance. Hannibal glanced enquiringly at him and he nodded his head firmly to clarify that Fernandez was dead.

"Looks like the sniper got his shot in first," he remarked solemnly. "Just as well, because Fernandez never misses. His aim must have been off when he pulled the trigger otherwise Murdock wouldn't have stood a chance."

Before Bryant had finished his sentence, several men came running out of the woods towards them, all wearing Mexican police uniforms. The Sargent came over to Bryant and saluted, waiting for further orders.

Now that back-up had arrived, BA and Face were able to leave their posts and joined the others. They stood by, anxiously waiting news about Kami.

"How bad is it, Colonel?" asked Face.

"She took the bullet in the lower back," reported Hannibal, placing his hand over the bandages to keep the pressure on the bullet wound. "She's lost a lot of blood and her pulse is weak." He stopped and frowned as another dilemma hit him. "I don't know how we are going to get her down the mountain. The slightest bump could dislodge the bullet and cause more damage."

Murdock rolled his eyes to the heavens in despair, hoping that some miracle would present itself.

"Face," said Hannibal suddenly. "Fernandez must have used some sort of transport to catch us up so quickly. See if you can get some information out of his men."

Face nodded in acknowledgement and hurried off to confront the men. Murdock took off his jacket and draped it over Kami to keep her warm. To his great relief he saw that she was slowly opening her eyes and he held her hand encouragingly. She managed to smile weakly at him, before the pain suddenly began to kick in.

"It's okay, baby," Murdock said softly. "Everything's going to be okay. Just promise you won't leave me."

She tried to nod her head, but the movement made her screw up her face in agony.

"Don't try and move yet, kid," said Hannibal, patting her arm in a reassuring manner with his free hand.

"Sorry, Hannibal," she said in a downcast voice. "My fault - we shouldn't have stopped."

Hannibal shook his head and told her to lie still and stay calm. He looked up as his First Lieutenant suddenly appeared.

"You're right Hannibal," he said earnestly. "There's a four-by-four parked just the otherwise of the wood."

Hannibal jumped up enthusiastically, glad to hear some good news for a change. Murdock continued to keep the pressure on Kami's wound.

"BA, go with Face to get the car and drive it as near to our position as you can," he said. "Once we pick up the Highway we can be at the hospital in half an hour."

Whilst BA and Face were gone, Hannibal, with the help of a couple of the officers who also had First Aid experience, prepared Kami for the journey to the hospital. It was encouraging to see that she was able to move her hands and feet, which hopefully meant that there was no spinal damage.

It wasn't long before BA was driving back along the dirt track and back on to the adjoining minor road again. He parked up a couple of yards from the clearing and BA and Face jumped out and waited whilst Kami was carefully carried out to the car. She was placed gently in the front seat and her seat belt strapped round her to keep her secure. Bryant came over and joined the team.

"I'll clear things up with the Authorities," he said. "With the evidence we've managed to accumulate on this case, at least we'll be able to stop one drug deal from going down. I hope the girl will be alright."

"Thanks Bryant," said Hannibal gratefully. "We couldn't have done this without you and your men."

"Yeah!" growled BA. "I sure would like to shake the hand of that fella who took a pot shot at Fernandez!"

"Well, looks like you can," replied Bryant. "Here he comes now."

The team turned round and saw a familiar figure in army fatigues, walking towards them.

"Stockwell!" exclaimed BA. "You were the sniper up on the ridge?"

The General nodded his head as the others stared at him, completely gobsmacked!

"You took your time making the shot!" grumbled BA, but there was a new-found respect in his voice.

"Well, unfortunately, he did seem to have the advantage over you all," responded the General, in his usual arrogant tone. "I didn't want him and his men to start firing randomly at people – could have ended up in quite a bloodbath! Miss Wilson's little diversion helped - I'm just sorry she got caught in the cross-fire."

Murdock came forward, his dark brown eyes full of appreciation and gratitude.

"It could have been a lot worse if Fernandez's aim hadn't been affected," he said, his voice shaking uncontrollably. "I owe you one, General."

"No Captain," said the General. "Let's just say the odds are now even."

He held out his hand and each member of the team shook it, a new understanding between them established.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Aftermath**

Kami had been taken to the operating theatre almost immediately on arrival at the hospital to have the bullet removed from her back. The team were in a restless mood whilst they waited for news about her condition.

Craig had been informed of what had happened and Agent Simmons had driven him to the hospital so he could be with his sister. Hannibal had updated him on the events as they had unfolded about the rescue.

"Thank God you got to her in time," he shuddered, tears of anger and relief shining in his eyes as he realised what a narrow escape she had. "I'm so very grateful to you all."

"Who would have thought Stockwell would end up saving the day," remarked Face, still a little dumbstruck by the whole incident.

Everyone nodded in agreement. They had certainly seen the General in a new light and their opinion of the man had gone up in all their estimations.

The surgeon finally came to bring them news of Kami. The wound appeared to be superficial and the removal of the bullet had been a simple procedure with no complications. She had lost a lot of blood and was a bit shell-shocked, but otherwise appeared to be in a fairly stable condition.

A thankful murmur echoed round the waiting room.

"Is she awake? asked Murdock eagerly. "Can we go see her?"

"The young lady is conscious and has been taken to her room," replied the surgeon. "You may go and see her for a short while, but please no more than three people at a time."

Hannibal put his arm round Craig's shoulder. He could see that both he and Murdock were going to explode if they didn't see Kami soon!

"Why don't you and Murdock go in first?" he suggested kindly. "We'll go in after you."

Craig and Murdock both nodded back appreciatively. The surgeon escorted them both to her room and then left. A nurse was fussing round her when they entered, checking her blood pressure and making sure the saline drip was safely in place. She nodded at them briefly and then left the room.

As much as Murdock wanted to rush to Kami's side, he held back to let Craig take the lead. He felt more than a bit guilty that his association with the A-Team had brought Fernandez into his sister's life, putting her in danger. It made him realise that they had made a lot of enemies over the last five years. He could hardly look at Craig at first when he had joined them in the waiting room. But when their eyes finally met, there was no malice or accusations evident there. Just a mutual look of heart-felt sympathy.

"Hello sis," said Craig softly, taking her hand and trying his best to look as calm and relaxed as possible. "You certainly know how to throw one hell of a dinner party!"

Kami chuckled and then wished she hadn't as her whole body ached with the movement.

"I can't believe you came all this way," she said in a small voice.

"Like I'd be anywhere else, silly," replied Craig. He gestured towards the pilot, waving at him to come forward. "Murdock's here too," he continued, making room for him to come and join them.

Murdock sat on the side of her bed and bent forward, kissing her tenderly on the forehead.

"Glad you made it Fly Boy," she said, her eyes flickering with raw emotion.

"Thanks to you, baby," answered Murdock, almost choking on the words in an effort to acknowledge her act of bravery in saving his life.

They sat with her for a few minutes, giving her brief details of what had happened after she had been shot. She was very relieved – if not slightly bemused - to hear that Fernandez had been killed by Stockwell.

"Where are the rest of the team?" she asked.

"They're outside in the waiting room," replied Murdock. "The Doc wouldn't let us all come in together. We better give them a chance to come and see you."

"Can you come back and sit with me afterwards?" she asked, the vulnerability in her voice tugging at his heart strings.

"No problemo," replied Murdock. "I'll come straight back."

Craig and Murdock left the room and the others came in to see her. They didn't stay long, as they could see she was very tired and still in quite a bit of pain.

"Are Rina and Maggie alright?" she suddenly asked, her voice full of concern. "They didn't get caught up in any of this did they?"

"They're both fine, kid," reassured Hannibal. He didn't tell her that in fact, they hadn't told the girls what was going on! Both he and Face had decided that as they were out of the way anyway, there was no need to make them aware of the situation, which would only make them both worry.

Kami sighed in relief. She focussed her attention on BA.

"I hear you've got a lady friend?" she broached discreetly. "What's her name?"

"Candice," he mumbled bashfully. "She's really swell."

"Can't wait to meet her," said Kami, trying to keep the weariness she felt out of her voice.

"You will, little mama," replied BA. "Just as soon as you get better."

She smiled warmly at him, but her eyes were now beginning to close involuntarily. The team took the hint and got up to say their good-byes to her. She had fallen asleep before they had even left the room.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Flashback**

When Murdock came back into the room, Kami had fallen asleep. The others had gone back to the hostel, but he had permission to stay for a few more hours. He settled down in a chair beside her bed. Although she appeared to be sleeping she was very restless. She tossed and turned and generally appeared to be agitated about something.

He dragged the chair nearer to the bed and took her hand in his, gently caressing her soft skin. The motion seemed to calm her down and the violent jerks subsided into more gentle twitches.

Murdock found himself dozing off. It had been a non-stop, extremely tense and chaotic day and he felt exhausted. He wasn't sure how long he had been dozing for, when suddenly he was woken up by a terrifying, high-pitched scream, that chilled him to the bone. It took him a few seconds to remember where he was and then he realised the scream had come from Kami.

She was sitting up in her bed with her knees curled up to her chest, pressed as far back into the headboard as she could get. Thankfully the saline drip had stayed intact. The look on her face was that of complete panic and horror. She stared wildly at Murdock, but there was no sign of recognition in her eyes.

"Kami?" he said gently, reaching out for her. But she shrunk away from his hand.

"No!" she screamed at him. "You stay away from me!"

Murdock immediately withdrew his hand and for an agonising moment he thought something bad had happened to her at the lodge.

"It's okay," he continued softly, trying to reign in his anxieties. "I won't hurt you. It's me, HM – don't you know who I am?"

Kami mouthed the name back to him, a frown creasing her forehead as she tried to recall where she had heard it before.

"Do you know where my mom is?" she asked suddenly. "She's not here and she's always here when I get home from school."

Murdock flinched inwardly at the the sound of her melancholy plea. There was something very childlike about her demeanour and it was obvious that she had slipped back into a part of her past that he knew nothing about.

"I don't know Kami," he replied, slightly thrown by the change in direction of the conversation, but glad that she didn't seem to think he was some kind of threat.

"I'm scared!" she whispered so quietly that Murdock had to strain to hear what she said. "I'm scared that he's hurt her real bad."

"Is someone hurting your mom?" asked Murdock.

"Can't tell you!" she cried out in despair. "He'll get angry and hurt her again and then he'll hurt Craig. And it will be all my fault!"

She started to sob uncontrollably and her whole body shook with the sheer, gut-wrenching power of her anguish. Murdock felt his heart breaking as he witnessed her pain. He wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her, but she had built an invisible barrier around her that was hard to penetrate. Her body language was closed and guarded and he knew that he had to gain her trust.

"I can help you find her if you like," he said brightly, trying to find a way to break down her insecurities. "Billy will help us too, won't you boy?"

"Billy?" repeated Kami, in between her sobs. "Who's Billy?"

"He's my dog," replied Murdock, giving her of his lop-sided grins.

"I like dogs," said Kami and for a moment, Murdock saw a half-smile playing around in the corners of her mouth. "I've got a friend who has a dog called Billy."

It was at that point when a hint of recognition flickered across her face. As she came stumbling back into the present, there was a complete look of bewilderment clouding her eyes as she focussed on Murdock.

"What … what happened?" she stuttered. "How did I get up here?"

"You just had a nightmare, baby," soothed Murdock, as he rushed to her side, helping her to get back into bed again. "Nothing to worry about."

"Oh!" she replied, not totally convinced that he was telling her the whole truth.

She grimaced as she lay back down again.

"You in pain?" asked Murdock anxiously. Kami nodded. He looked down at her flushed face. He felt her forehead which was red-hot to his touch. She was beginning to burn up with a fever.

"I'll ring for the nurse," he said, pressing the button on Kami's pager.

After a few minutes the nurse came into the room. She took one at Kami and immediately shooed Murdock out so she could deal with her.

He left the room and stood outside for a few seconds, feeling a little lost. Several other nurses and a doctor came bustling in and out. He eventually went to the waiting room so he could let them get on with helping Kami.

He collapsed into one of the chairs, his mind working overtime as he tried to make sense of what just happened. He realised – not for the first time – that he knew very little about Kami's past. Something bad had happened – something that was deeply disturbing and made Murdock feel uneasy. No doubt the recent trauma she had suffered at the hands of Fernandez had triggered off sinister past events in her head. He had to find out – and the only other person who could help him unfold the mystery was her brother.

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Kami's fever lasted for a couple of days. Her incoherent rambling and her obvious distress and confusion as her past and present collided, was difficult for Murdock and the team to comprehend. She would often cry out for Craig, worry constantly about her mother and push people away in a hysterical panic if they got too close to her. Craig was the only one who could calm her down, although it was obvious that he too was struggling to face his own memories of whatever nightmare the two of them had endured together.

Eventually her fever passed and she seemed oblivious to her previous plight. After about a week of being in the hospital her wound had healed nicely and she was well on her way to making a good physical recovery.

One morning, Murdock had just finished visiting Kami and her brother had arrived to come and sit with her. She had dozed off into another one of her restless sleeps and Murdock thought this was a good a time as any to try and speak to Craig.

Craig was reluctant to talk at first. He looked down at his sister and nervously bit his lip. He liked Murdock and he trusted him. But it wasn't his place to make that decision. It was his sister's.

"Look Craig," urged Murdock. "I know you don't want to betray your sister's trust, but I can't help her if I don't know what's going on." He paused for a moment before he continued. "Something happened when you were both younger, didn't it?"

Craig closed his eyes and sighed heavily. When he opened them, he was met with Murdock's steady, compelling gaze.

"I think you have the right to know, Murdock," he said finally. "But it has to come from Kami. I'll speak to her and see if I can persuade her to talk to you."

"Thanks, muchacho," replied Murdock.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Past revelations**

[**_Warning: this chapter contains references to domestic violence, rape and suicide. Not too graphic but hopefully will explain why Kami and Murdock connected so well with each other. Hope it isn't too offensive._**]

Kami awoke from her sleep to find her brother staring intently at her.

"What's up, Bruv?" she asked, quizzically.

"It's Murdock," he replied. "He knows something's up."

"What do you mean?" she said with an air of apprehension.

"You've been having flashbacks again, Kami," he continued cautiously. "About the past."

Kami turned away, shaking her head in denial, but Craig took her firmly by the hands and pleaded with her to listen to him.

"You have to tell him, Sis, he's not stupid," he warned. "He can read all the signs."

"But I'll lose him if I tell him," she replied despondently.

"You don't know that," said Craig gently. "If anyone will understand then Murdock will. He loves you, Sis. You've got to trust him."

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Murdock came back to visit Kami later in the afternoon. The doctor was with her and they were discussing the likelihood of her being discharged from the hospital in a couple of days.

"That's great news, kimosabi," said Murdock, as the doctor left the room. "Once we're home things will soon get back to normal again."

Kami gave him a half-hearted smile. She walked slowly over to the window, gazing out at the tranquil setting for a few moments, before turning back to Murdock. He was looking at her expectantly, his brown eyes full of support and encouragement.

"I have to talk to you, Murdock," she said, in her usual straightforward manner. "It's about something that happened in my childhood. You've probably guessed that it wasn't a very happy one for either Craig or myself."

Murdock nodded sympathetically. It was evident in the special bond they had between them and how they drew strength from each other when things got tough, that something had happened in their past.

"First off," she said, "I have to tell you about our father. He was a drunk and when he got drunk he got real mad. He had a temper and mostly he took it out on mom. When she wasn't around to use as a punch bag, he would beat Craig. We were all scared of him and he made our lives hell."

"Did he ever hit you?" asked Murdock, a wave of anger welling up inside.

"Sometimes," she answered. "But usually mom or Craig would be there to protect me. Mom always came off the worse. There was hardly a day that went by when she wouldn't appear without new cuts and bruises on her face and body."

"Wasn't there anyone who could help her?" asked Murdock.

"Well she had no other family to turn to," said Kami. "She was an only child and her parents had died several years ago. Dad wasn't in contact with any of his family. She did leave him several times, but he would always find her and bring us back and then things would be a hundred times worse. You must remember, HM, that there were no shelters for people like mom back then like there are today. The Authorities didn't recognise violence in the home as being a big deal."

"I guess," reflected Murdock.

"Besides it wasn't all bad," said Kami. "When dad got paid he would disappear for several days at a time, gambling and drinking and wouldn't come back until he had lost all his money. It gave us some breathing space and we could pretend we were a normal, happy family again."

"Our mother was an angel. She was beautiful, kind and forgiving. She had her own job and she made sure she put some money by in a safe place so dad couldn't get his hands on it. No matter what he did to her, she always held her head up high and never complained."

"Anyway, as time went on dad became more and more unhinged. He lost his job and would sell what he could to get money for his drinking and gambling habits."

"As Craig got older he was able to stand up to him a bit more and he would fight back. Dad didn't like that and would usually leave him alone. Craig could have left home at any time, but he didn't. He chose to stay and look after us. He became our protector."

Kami paused, shivering as memories from her past began to fill her with dread and trepidation. She looked at Murdock, who smiled back at her in a reassuring manner, even though his insides were doing cartwheels at her revelations. He had a feeling that there was still worse to come. She took a deep breath and continued.

"Then one day, when I was 13, I came home from school as usual. I would skip through the back door into the kitchen, because I knew mom would be there waiting for me with a plate of cookies and some milk. No matter how badly she had been beaten up during the day, she would be always be there, with a smile on her face, ready to give me a warm, motherly hug."

"Except this particular day she wasn't there. There was no plate of cookies or glass of milk on the table. There was no sign of dinner cooking on the stove. I called for her but she didn't answer. I went into the living room and found that it had been completely ransacked. Furniture had been toppled over, ornaments had been smashed and drawers had been emptied out all over the floor. I guessed my dad must have been desperately looking for some money - or perhaps something valuable to sell."

"I began to panic. I knew something really bad must have happened to mom. As I turned round to leave the room I saw him standing there – blood on his hands and a look in his eye that I had seen before and didn't much like. He was blocking the doorway and I couldn't get away from him."

She shut he eyes for a moment, holding on to the window sill to brace herself for the nausea that would take over as the memory came flooding back. Murdock was shaking his head at her in total disbelief and horror.

"I couldn't stop him, HM!" she sobbed pitifully. "You've got to believe me. I did try, but he was too strong. I could smell the alcohol on his breath and see this crazy, insane look on his face – like he was spaced out or something. I'm not even sure he knew who I was."

She gulped as the bile started to rise in her throat. She waited for Murdock to say something – anything – but he was struggling with his own feelings of outrage and resentment as he tried to comprehend what Kami must have gone through.

"What happened after that?" he asked finally in a strained voice, as he realised Kami was waiting for a reaction from him.

"I suddenly realised Craig was pulling him off me," she continued. He must have finished college early coz usually he wasn't home until much later. He was furious and they both started to fight. But even Craig couldn't match his strength. He was knocked to the floor and I think he hit his head on something when he went down coz he didn't get up again straight away."

Kami's words were coming out in a torrent now as she relived the nightmare.

"I tried to scramble to my feet but he was coming back towards me again. And then I saw mom come into the room. The side of her head was bleeding badly and her left arm was hanging down at an awkward angle at her side. She was holding a small handgun and she was pointing it at my father. She shot him in the back several times and he fell forward on top of me. I heard him take his last breath and saw the life drain out of his eyes before he died."

"I think I must have blacked out, because when I woke up dad was gone and there were police in the house. One of the neighbours had heard mom screaming earlier and had rung and reported it."

"An ambulance had arrived and me, mom and Craig were taken to hospital. Mom never made it. The injuries to her head were too severe and she died of a brain haemorrhage. The ambulance man said it was a miracle that she had managed to find the strength to drag herself downstairs the way she did."

"Oh God, Kami, I'm so sorry," said Murdock, his heart breaking into a million pieces. He made a move to towards her but she put her hand up defensively.

"I have to tell you all of it, HM," she said tersely. "I don't want there be any more secrets between us."

"Okay", he said warily, wondering what other horrors Kami was about to divulge.

"After everything that happened, Craig and I were put in a children's home as in the eyes of the law we were still minors. I was very traumatised and didn't cope to well with the aftermath. It didn't help when a couple of months later I found out I was pregnant."

Murdock put his hands to his face and couldn't stop the gasp from leaving his mouth.

"You … you … you had a baby!" he exclaimed.

"No," replied Kami, holding his stunned look of astonishment with her own haunting gaze. "There was no way I could have his child. It would have been a constant reminder of what he did to me. Plus I was in no fit state to cope with a pregnancy. So the Home made arrangements for me to have an abortion."

Murdock started at Kami as if he was seeing her for the first time. The beautiful, brave, feisty girl he had fallen in love with suddenly seemed a complete stranger to him. But deep down he knew there had been skeletons in the cupboard. Craig was right - he could read the signs but he chose to ignore them.

Murdock realised that everything about their relationship so far had been centred around him. He kept telling himself that he would find out more about Kami, but he never did. He felt very ashamed and remorseful.

Kami mistook his silence for disapproval.

"Please don't judge me, HM," she pleaded. "I hate myself for what I did. I felt so desperately guilty and unhappy afterwards. If it hadn't been for Craig I would have given up on myself."

"There was no need for you to feel guilty," responded Murdock. "None of what happened was your fault, Kami."

Kami shook her head forcefully.

"I'm not sure about that," she replied dubiously. "When news got out about what happened people started to treat me like I was some sort of social outcast. Eventually it all got too much for me to handle. The pain – the trauma – the guilt – it all came crashing down on me."

"I guess you could say I went off the rails. I got paranoid about going out and dropped out of school. And then I started to have little _accidents_."

"Accidents!" repeated Murdock in alarm. "What sort of accidents?"

"Ones that usually involved pills and objects with sharp blades," she replied in a low, sinister voice. "Not so brave now, huh?"

"But you found a way through it all," insisted Murdock, trying to sound as positive as he could.

"Yeah, thanks to Craig," said Kami. "I must have dragged him through hell and back but he stood by me. The Home did what it could to help, but it had limited capacity and resources."

"So when Craig turned 18, he became my legal guardian and he took me out of the Home. He had just been offered an apprenticeship working for a London newspaper company as a journalist. It seemed a perfect opportunity to get away from all the bad memories and start again somewhere else. Mom had left us a nice little nest egg and we sold the house and relocated to London."

"The job came with a small 2-bedroom apartment and we soon settled down. The Home had put us in touch with a highly recommended child psychiatrist and he helped me sort my head out. I soon felt confident to go back to school and managed to catch up with everything I had missed. I passed my exams, went to college and university and got my Teachers Exams. Craig moved around quite a bit as he progressed up the ladder and he always took me with him. I would get teacher assistant jobs wherever I could."

"When did you move back to America," asked Murdock, who was listening to Kami's life story with great interest.

"We lived in London for about 17 years until about 1984," said Kami. "That was when Craig was offered a job at the LA Courier so we moved back to America. We started looking around for a house close to the City Centre and both fell in love with Angelino Heights. I managed to find a teaching job and we settled down there. Craig eventually moved out when he met Amanda and got married, but he never stopped being my big brother."

Kami glanced at Murdock nervously. She could see him fidgeting uncomfortably as he processed everything she had told him. She had a feeling that she had blown her chances with him. She had seen the look of shock and revulsion on his face. She decided to make it easy for him.

"Look HM, I know you won't want me now – not after what I've just told you. But please, HM, please say you still want me as a friend?"

Murdock looked at her long and hard.

"I'm sorry, Kami," he said finally. "I'm afraid we can't be friends anymore."

Kami looked totally dejected but she managed to give him an understanding smile through her tears.

"It's okay, I understand …." she started to say before Murdock interrupted her.

"No Kami!" he said firmly. "You _don't_ understand. I can't be your friend because you mean much more to me than that, baby, so much more."

Kami's look of dejection suddenly changed to one of hope.

"Really!" she said. "Do you really mean that, HM?"

"Are you sure nothing happened at the lodge?" asked Murdock anxiously. "You would tell, me, wouldn't you?"

"Nothing happened, HM," Kami reassured him. "No more secrets, I promise. But I was scared that they might do something bad to me and then I got scared that I would do something bad to myself."

Murdock marched over to where she was standing and pulled her into a protective embrace.

"I'm going to make sure you never feel like that again," he promised fiercely, his eyes flickering with an renewed intensity. I just wish you could have told me all this sooner."

"It wasn't because I wanted to keep it a secret from you," explained Kami. "There just never seemed to be a right time. I mean, we weren't exactly being honest about the way we felt about each other when we first met. And then there was all that stuff going on with the team and Stockwell. And then you went back to Langley and we had so little time together."

"And then I got ill," finished off Murdock. "And you stood by me through it all. And now I'm going to stand by you Kami. When this is all over we're going to do this thing properly."

To Kami's complete and utter surprise, Murdock got down on one knee and took her hand.

"I know this is a bit impromptu, but will you marry me, Kami Anne Wilson?"

"As if you have to ask!" she replied back. "Of course I will!"

Murdock kissed her hand, beaming up at her brightly. He jumped up and pulled her into another hug. He became pensive for a moment as he thought about the rest of the team.

"Kami – the guys – they sort of suspect the worse," said Murdock delicately. "I mean, I won't tell them if you don't want me to but …"

"It's okay, HM," replied Kami quickly. "I know this is going to be difficult for you to take in, so if you need to get some rational help to sort it all out I'll understand. Craig never had anyone to turn to and it almost broke him in the end. I don't want that happening to you."

It was so like her to think of him – even amidst her own suffering. He made a solemn vow to himself that he was never going to take her for granted ever again.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Reflections**

When Murdock got back to the Hostel, Craig was waiting for him. It was early evening and the team had already gone out to eat.

Craig was anxious to know how things had been left with Kami. Murdock reassured him that he wasn't about to run out on his sister. In fact – as it turned out – quite the opposite!

Craig gave a huge sigh of relief. His face lit up with delight when Murdock told him about the proposal.

"I knew you were the one!" he exclaimed. "I knew right from the start!"

Murdock chuckled for a few seconds and then became serious again.

"Kami was lucky she had you, Craig," he remarked. "You did an amazing job with her. It couldn't have been easy."

A dark shadow appeared on Craig's face.

"I'll never understand why a father would treat his family that way, Murdock," he replied sadly. "What would drive a man to do that?"

"I don't know, muchacho," said Murdock, wishing he could give the young man some sort of comforting explanation.

"Do you know why I don't have any children?" continued Craig. "It's because I was scared I would end up like him. I didn't want to make my children suffer the way Kami and I did."

"I think you've proved you're nothing like him, Craig," retorted Murdock. "Kami told me how you looked after her and how you stood up to your father and took your share of the beatings to protect your mom. You couldn't have tried much harder."

"I just wish I could have done more sooner," he sighed. "The worst part of it all was when we were put in the Care Home. I never knew what state I would find Kami in when I came back from college. Usually she'd be in her room just staring at the walls with a half empty bottle of Vodka by her side. Or she would have over-dozed on sleeping pills and we would have to rush her to hospital. Other times she would have cuts on her wrists and I would have to bandage them up for her."

Craig stopped as his emotions got the better of him. Murdock could see the tears welling up in his eyes. The strain and burden he had carried around with him for the past 20 years suddenly erupted like a volcano from his body.

"She was only 13, Murdock!" he cried out, his voice full of anguish and torment. "Only 13!"

Murdock put his arms round Craig and held him until finally he had no more tears left to cry.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When the team came back to the hostel they found Murdock sitting on his own in the dark. Craig had gone back to visit Kami for the last time that day.

"Jeez Murdock!" exclaimed Face, almost jumping out of his skin when he realised he was sitting in the armchair. "What you doing sitting there in the dark?"

Murdock looked up at his best friend and Face was worried when he saw him looking so serious and thoughtful. There was no sign of the usual playful sparkle in his eyes or the zany, infectious smile.

"I was just reflecting on what a total selfish, self-centred dumb-ass I've been," he quipped back angrily.

The three men were rather taken back by his uncharacteristic aggressive tone.

"What's happened, Captain?" asked Hannibal.

"I've just found out that Kami's father was a low down, good-for-nothing drunk, who beat his wife and son and abused his daughter!" snapped back Murdock.

Everyone looked at him in shock. Murdock immediately regretted his outburst. Getting angry wasn't going to help Kami. She needed somebody strong and reliable to depend on.

Besides, Murdock knew that some of the anger was directed at himself. There had been no time to think about Kami in their whirlwind relationship. He had dragged her through all his hardship and she had put her life on hold for him time and time again.

But he always knew there was a reason why she so completely got him. Why she could read his every thought and found it very easy to be part of his fantasy world.

He thought back to the times when she would scowl at BA for calling him a crazy fool. And the way she was completely at ease when she came to visit him at the Psychiatric Unit when he had his breakdown. They were cut from the same mould and shared the same dark thoughts and misgivings.

He suddenly remembered that the guys were in the room. He could see by the looks on their faces that their worst fears had been confirmed. He relayed the grim details to them and they all felt the pain and heartache that Kami and Craig must have gone through. The brother and sister had very much become a part of their dysfunctional family and they felt very protective towards them.

When they next saw Kami at the hospital, they were careful not to make too much fuss because they knew she wouldn't want their sympathy. It was enough for her to know she still had their support and friendship without having to voice their feelings.

When Murdock announced that they were going to get married, a big "whoopee!" resounded round the room. It had always been written in the stars from the first day that their pilot had met Kami that it was a match made in heaven. It was their destiny to be together and after what they had both been through in their lives they deserved to have their little bit of happiness.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Plane talking!**

Soon Kami was well enough to leave the hospital and arrangements were made for everyone to fly back home.

Kami was very excited to be flown home by Murdock. She had yet to encounter first-hard the Howlin' Mad "Lady Luck Airlines" flying experience!

Usually Face would be Murdock's co-pilot on their short charter flights. He had become very proficient with assisting him with the take-off and landing procedures. But once they were in the air he politely let Kami take his position so she could enjoy the experience from a front row seat and he went to join the others in the back.

Kami had to admit that it was a pretty amazing feeling. It was a bright sunny afternoon and apart from a few cotton-bud clouds, the horizon stretched before them in a kaleidoscope of colours and light that shimmered around her.

She loved the feeling of calmness and serenity. It was like floating on a little bit of heaven where all the heartache and suffering was too far away to ever hurt you.

"It's beautiful, HM," she sighed, completely in awe of the feeling of power and exhilaration that raced through her veins. "It feels almost – dangerous!" "Is that why you love flying so much?"

"Not really", replied Murdock. "I mean, yes, there is an element of danger involved. The height – the speed – the adrenaline rush – it all plays a part. But you have to be in control, Kami. You have to be able to channel the power otherwise you'd crash and burn. Does that make sense?"

"It makes perfect sense," she agreed, nodding slowly at him as she absorbed his analogy.

This time Murdock sighed in contentment.

"I've sorta missed this," he said softly, probably more to himself than to Kami.

Kami tore her gaze away from the landscape and turned towards Murdock. She didn't truly understand how much this meant to him until now. Flying was in his blood and in his soul. It was part of who he was.

"Then you must find a way to keep flying," she said firmly. "Surely there must be a job out there somewhere for a handsome, ex-Thunderbird, hot-shot pilot!"

Murdock's eyes immediately lit up. He had never raised the subject with Kami about flying again since he had been shot down and injured nine months ago. He wasn't sure if he wanted to take the risk any more – especially now he had Kami. But old habits die hard and the allure of the open sky was never far from his thoughts.

"You don't mind?" he asked earnestly. "It's just that I've been playing around with this idea in my head about running my own flight school. I could use my compensation money to set it up and I know Face would help me with all the business stuff."

"Of course I don't mind," laughed Kami. "You're free to live your dreams now, HM, so you better start living them."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Living the dream**

Summer was nearly over and Kami's gunshot wound was healing nicely. The flashbacks continued for a few more weeks, but gradually – with Murdock's help – she managed to lay her demons to rest again.

Murdock had made their engagement official by presenting her with an exquisite antique engagement ring that had belonged to his Grandmother It was the only valuable possession she had owned had she had left it to him in her will, urging him to give it to the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. It had fitted Kami like a glove – almost as if it had been made for her.

They were married before the year was out. Not being a particularly ostentatious couple, it had been a very low-key wedding in the local church with just a few close friends in attendance. Face and BA were joint Best Men and Kami's best friend Teresa was bridesmaid. Hannibal did the honour of walking Kami down the aisle and Craig was the official photographer. Kami was bewitchingly beautiful as she walked towards Murdock and he thanked the Gods for about the millionth time in so many days that they had sent this angel to him.

Murdock followed his dream and went about setting up his flight school. It was going to take a lot of hard work but Murdock had the enthusiasm and motivation to make it a success. Face had been invaluable to him in this respect. He acquired some suitable land and buildings to accommodate his project. He helped him with the planning permission procedures and explained all the legal jargon to him. He made sure Murdock had the best Insurance Agent and Personnel on board and ran his advertising campaign for him. He was quite simply, as Murdock proudly said, the bestest friend ever!

Face and Rina married in February 1989. Of course all the gang were there to share their special day with them. It was quite a grand affair, as Rina was a well-known model in the fashion industry. Face was in his element amongst all the pomp and ceremony!

The celebrations went on into the evening and Hannibal had popped out into the garden grounds for his customary cigar. He was just about to light up when he saw Kami sitting on a bench by herself, with her head in her hands. He immediately rushed over, thinking that something was wrong.

He sat down beside her and she looked up – slightly startled – until she realised it was Hannibal. He couldn't help noticing that she looked very pale and tired.

"You okay, kid?" he enquired, kindly.

"Sure, Pops," said Kami. "Just getting a bit of fresh air."

"Yes, it is a bit overpowering in there!" he chuckled. "It's a bit different from your modest little wedding."

Kami chuckled back at him.

"I guess so," she said. "But Face deserves it."

Hannibal lit up his cigar and they chatted for a while until the cold February air suddenly made Kami shiver.

"Come on, kid," said Hannibal. "We better get back inside before we both catch a cold."

Kami got up, but swayed unsteadily on her feet. Hannibal clasped her hand to help her find her balance.

"Kami, what wrong?" he asked, a worried look on his face.

"Oh, nothing," she said lightly, trying to brush off Hannibal's concerns. "Too much champagne, probably!"

Hannibal frowned at her suspiciously.

"You've hardly touched a drop all day", he said, looking at her closely. "In fact, you don't look well, Kami, I'm going to get Murdock."

"No!" pleaded Kami. "Please don't, Hannibal. Now isn't a good time – I don't want to spoil Face and Rina's big day."

"Then there is something wrong?" persisted Hannibal. He had that look in his piercing blue eyes that said he wasn't going to let this drop until he knew what was wrong.

"Sorta," replied Kami shyly. "I'm pregnant."

Hannibal choked on his cigar as his mouth fell open in a jaw-dropping expression of shock and astonishment.

"Pregnant!" he repeated. "That's fantastic! Does Murdock know?"

"No," replied Kami. "I only did the test yesterday but I've suspected it for a few weeks now. I haven't had time to tell him, that's why you can't say anything yet, Hannibal. Not until I've spoken to him."

"Of course, kid, I understand," grinned back Hannibal. "Mum's the word!"


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Double trouble!**

Three months later, Kami and Murdock were sitting in the living room after just coming back from having a scan done at the hospital. They looked at each other in stunned silence, until finally Murdock managed to find his voice.

"Twins!" he exclaimed, shaking his head in total disbelieve. "How can that be possible?"

"I don't know, HM," replied Kami. The nurse had explained to them that the scan had shown two separate placentas. This meant they wouldn't be identical and that usually non-identical twins ran on the mother's side of the family.

"I don't remember mom ever mentioning twins in the family before," she continued. "So there must be some sort of genetic explanation for it." She looked at Murdock for a response, but he still looked too dazed and shell-shocked to comprehend what she was saying.

Kami had the feeling that this went somewhat deeper. When the image of the two babies had appeared on the screen, Murdock looked like he has seen a ghost.

"HM?" she said gently. "Do you wanna tell me what's going on in your head?" "You're obviously freaked out about something."

Murdock suddenly snapped out of his preoccupied thoughts, realising that his behaviour was worrying Kami.

"I'm sorry, kimosabi," he said. "It's just that I've been holding back on something. Something that I've never told anyone about before. But we promised - didn't we – no more secrets."

"What is it?" she whispered, suddenly fearing the worst.

"I had a twin brother, Kami" he explained, holding her gaze steadfastly. "He died a couple of weeks after we were born, so I never knew about him until later on. Then one day, when I was seven, I saw a photo of him in one of the albums and Granny explained who he was. She said we had both got sick, but he was too weak and didn't make it. That made me feel kinda guilty. I know it sounds silly, but I always thought that a piece of me was missing when I was growing up. Then it all made sense when she told me that."

Kami squeezed his hand in a comforting manner.

"Then maybe we've both been given a chance to get back something we lost," she said, her eyes shining with tears of happiness.

As he looked into her radiant, glowing face, Murdock could feel his own emotions surfacing.

"You know, when me and Face used to talk about living the dream, I never imagined for one moment that it would be as good as this," he said to her tenderly. "You've made me the proudest, happiest man alive and I swear I'm going to be a good daddy to our children."

"No you won't," chuckled Kami. "You're going to make the best daddy ever!"

Murdock thought his heart would overflow. He gathered her in his arms and hugged her close. They both sat silently together, contemplating on what their bright, new future would hold.

"HM?" asked Kami, as she nuzzled contently into the crook of his neck. "What was your brother's name?" But somehow she already knew the answer to her question.

"Billy," replied Murdock, softly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The twins were born at the end of August 1989. A little boy arrived first, followed by a little girl, ten minutes later. Murdock was literally bursting with unprecedented pride and joy.

It was a jubilant event for everyone, especially when Face and Rina announced that another little bundle would be arriving in the Spring of the following year to keep the twins company!

"Come on Scooter!" teased Murdock, referring to BA by his mama's pet name for him. "You're letting the side down! When are you going to make an honest woman of Candice and keep the Big Angry Mudsucker tradition going!"

Luckily for Murdock, BA was holding one of the babies, so he just glared back at him instead.

"Don't call me Scooter!" he growled, but there was no aggression in his voice. He was secretly pleased to his Blood Brother looking so happy and contented.

When the others had gone, Murdock and Kami finally had some time to themselves. Murdock was holding his daughter and Kami was holding their son.

In a heartfelt moment Murdock raised his head skyward and spoke to his Grandmother.

"I did it, Granny," he whispered. "You always said I would make you and Gramps proud. Tell mum I followed all my dreams. Love you all."

Kami was touched by Murdock's compassionate little speech. She gazed down at her beautiful daughter lying in his arms and thought about how much his Grandmother had meant to Murdock.

"Wasn't your Granny's name Emma?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's right" replied Murdock, stifling a sniffle as he was suddenly overcome with emotion.

"That's a real pretty name," said Kami "Sort of suits our daughter, don't you think?"

Murdock looked up at Kami in surprise. When they had discussed names for the twins he had assumed that if they had a girl, Kami would want to call her after her mother, Rosemary.

"Sure does, Pumpkin," he answered. "But I thought you would want to call her after your mom?

"Well how about Emma-Rose," said Kami. "That way we can keep both their memories alive."

Murdock nodded enthusiastically, unable to speak as he acknowledged, once again, Kami's incredible gift for making him feel like a million dollars.

She looked down at her precious baby boy and then back up at Murdock, quizzically.

"Got any boy names in mind?" she asked.

"Well," replied Murdock, reaching out and caressing his son's hand with great affection. "I was always partial to the name Billy!"

"How about Billy-John," suggested Kami and was immediately met by one of Murdock's wide, frivolous grins.

"Perfect!" he agreed.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: The Legacy**

[**_2 May 1998_**]

It was Hannibal's 62nd birthday and the team, wives and families had all congregated at Bad Rock to celebrate with him. It was a particularly poignant moment for Hannibal, for he knew this would probably be the last birthday that he would spend with his family.

He had been diagnosed with lung cancer in 1994. Although he had managed to fight the disease in his own immortal way, his health had slowly deteriorated as the years had gone by. He was susceptible to chest infections and had spent the last couple of weeks in hospital suffering with pneumonia.

Maggie had insisted that he wasn't well enough to leave the hospital, but Hannibal had been adamant that he wanted to come home for his birthday. In the end Maggie had relented and granted him his wish. There were very few occasions when she had seen fear in his eyes and it scared her to see it there now. She understood his fear - he didn't want to be on his own when he died. He wanted to share whatever precious time he had left with his loved-ones.

He sat on the sofa, cocooned between Maggie on one side and Kami on the other. Craig sat on the arm of the sofa next to Kami.

Murdock, of course, was playing centre stage as all the children sat around him on the floor. He was regaling them with an animated rendition of one of their past missions. The children were listening, spellbound. They never tired of hearing stories about the team's life on the run as fugitives from the military.

Hannibal smiled contently as he looked at the earnest faces of all his surrogate grandchildren. The oldest child was Eric, whom Face had adopted shortly after he had married Rina. He was now 19 and he and Face had a mutual respect between each other and had become the best of friends. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor with his arm round his step-sister, Gemma, now 8 years old and who was definitely the jewel in Face's crown! Face and Rina were sprawled out on the floor beside them, leaning their chins on their hands as they lay on their stomachs, enjoying Murdock's little performance.

The twins, Billy-John and Emma-Rose, who were now 9, were sitting close by. They were inseparable and it was very rare that you saw one twin without the other.

Amanda, BA and his wife, Candice sat opposite the twins, with their son, Brandon. As he was only 5, he didn't really understand what was going on, but he sat mesmerised just the same, watching his Uncle Murdock jumping around enthusiastically. The other children glanced over at Grand-pa Hannibal every now and then, a look of complete awe and admiration on their faces.

Hannibal could see the same look of reverence on their faces that he remembered having on his face, whenever he looked at his own father. He had been Hannibal's inspiration whilst he was growing up. He was an old war hero who lived, breathed and loved the military life and Hannibal had very much been an army brat from day one.

His father had been a hard but fair man, who had instilled in the young boy the importance of hard work, endurance and honour. He didn't believe in failure and had made sure that his son faced all his weaknesses.

"You must always strive for excellence, John," he could hear his father saying. "Failure is not an option. Never give up in what you believe in."

Eager to please and gain the respect of his father, the young John Smith, who had no brothers or sisters to compete with, had taken on board his words. It had been no easy task to undertake, as his father was a difficult man to impress. He could be arrogant and condescending but would always gave credit and praise when it had been earned.

His mother, on the other hand, was the perfect picture of patience and tolerance. She taught Hannibal the values of compassion and humility. She preferred to nurture her son with words of encouragement and wisdom, and reassured him constantly that as long as he did his best, they would always be proud of him.

His mother and had died just after his 16th birthday and his father had died just after he came back from serving in the Korean War in 1954, at the age of 18. The look of pride on his father's face when he saw his decorations for bravery and honour would be something that Hannibal would treasure for the rest of his life.

So Hannibal vowed that he would continue to make his parents proud by fighting to achieve all his given goals. He progressed through the army at a remarkable rate and by the time he had been shipped out to Vietnam in 1968, at the tender age of just 32, he already had the rank of Lieutenant/Colonel.

Vietnam had been tougher than he had ever imagined. He found himself in charge of young soldiers who looked barely old enough to shave. Strategically, he had limited capacity, as the jungle proved a very difficult place to fight a war. It was almost impossible to determine who the enemy was and they faced hostility from the very people who he thought they were fighting for.

But he fought and accomplished his missions with amazing dexterity and leadership. He had survived one of Ho Chi Minh's concentration camps and endured four months of hell in "Hotel Hanoi". He had learned to laugh in the face of adversity.

Even when the Army, who he had devoted so much of his life to, had betrayed him, he still fought. He had to, because he suddenly became responsible for the two young men who had been betrayed along with him. They looked to him for survival and guidance. He had to be strong for them.

And then there was his ailing Captain, who had fought so valiantly and loyally by his side. He was languishing somewhere in a VA hospital, unable to distinguish between reality and the nightmares that plagued his ravaged mind. These people had become his family, his reason to keep fighting, until finally justice had prevailed and they had become free men.

Hannibal had never married and so had no children of his own. It had always worried him that his existence would have been for nothing. But as he looked round the room, he could see a piece of himself in every face that was gathered round him.

He has seen his team get married and settle down. He had been present at all their children's christenings. He was God-Father to Billy-John, Gemma and Brandon. He had continued his role as father figure to his men, Kami and Craig and in return they had loved and cherished him, for he had been the father than none of them ever had.

Somewhere in the distance he could hear his own father calling him.

"_It's okay, John, you don't have to fight any more. You can let go. You did a good job, Johnny, I'm so proud of you._"

Hannibal turned to Maggie, a wistful smile on his face. She had been his trusted companion over the past 15 years and the one that he always turned to when he needed love and reassurance.

"It's time, Maggie," he said in a rasping voice.

Maggie looked at him, blinking back the tears. She leaned in and kissed him lovingly.

"You're one in a million, lady," he whispered to her, his breathing becoming more and more irregular.

Kami, who had overheard the conversation looked at Hannibal in alarm. She quickly sought out Murdock who had just finished his tale. As he looked over she caught his attention and he could immediately see the sadness emanating from the pools of her deep blue eyes. He rushed over to join her, the sudden urgency of his movement alerting Face and BA that something was wrong.

Hannibal turned to Kami and Craig.

"It's been nice knowing you kids," he said, shaking Craig's hand and patting Kami affectionately on her's. She linked her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder.

"We'll never forget you, Pops," she said, unable to stop the tears from falling down her cheeks.

Murdock walked round to the back of the sofa. He bent over and draped his arms round Hannibal's neck, giving him a big sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"Love you, muchacho!" he said, his voice quavering.

Hannibal grinned as he held on to Murdock's arms for a couple of seconds.

"Make sure you don't annoy the Big Guy too much," he replied, but the burning sensation in his lungs was now making it difficult for him to speak without gasping for air.

BA came over and sat down next to Maggie. He put his large, comforting hand over Hannibal's, squeezing it tightly.

"Bless you, Hannibal," he said, simply but with a tenderness that was genuine and sincere.

"Try not and kill Murdock!" Hannibal murmured back.

Finally, Face came and sat at his feet. He kissed his other hand and laid his head on Hannibal's lap.

"Thanks for everything, dad," he whispered.

Hannibal ruffled his blonde hair affectionately.

"You're welcome son," he said.

His piecing blue eyes twinkled good-humouredly, before he uttered, for the final time, "I love it when a plan comes together!"

And then he was gone. No fuss, no bother, no fanfare. Amanda, Candice Rina and Eric, bowed their heads reverently whilst the children happily played on with their own version of the A-Team.

This was Hannibal's legacy – a legacy that he was very proud to have been part of.

**_That's all folks!_**

[**_I hope you all enjoyed this little trilogy. I tried to keep it very much to the format of the TV show, which somehow just managed to border on the edge of fantasy and credibility! I hope that came across. Thanks to everyone who stuck with it. If the story moved you in any way, leave a review and make my day!_**]


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